Many processes and/or devices use or manipulate moving fluids. From vehicles (e.g., cars, planes, boats, or submarines), to homes (e.g., heating and ventilating systems, water pipes), to many of the modern industrial processes, there is a reliance on the use and flow of various gasses. Typically, for these processes and/or devices, it is important that the velocity of the fluid be accurately determined. Accordingly, various techniques to determine the velocity of a fluid have been developed.
The idea of using calibrated strain gauges to measure fluid velocity is not a new idea. Most of these currently known ideas involve utilizing calibrated cantilevers or plates embedded with strain gauges on one or more surfaces. The bending and deflection of the entire member is then calibrated to the fluid velocity. However, these devices are complicated and expensive. A simpler and less expensive technique for utilizing the strain gauge effect to measure fluid velocity would be beneficial.